SoftBank considers investment of over $1 billion in WeWork - WSJ

REUTERS - SoftBank Group Corp is considering an investment of more than $1 billion in office-space sharing start-up WeWork, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The deal could be among the first from SoftBank's $100 billion technology fund, the WSJ said.

SoftBank and WeWork declined to comment.

WeWork is currently valued at nearly $17 billion and SoftBank's valuation of the company is expected to be at or above this figure, the WSJ said, citing the sources.

SoftBank has earlier discussed an investment in WeWork before pulling out, the Journal reported, citing two people familiar with the matter, and added talks may not result in a deal this time.

Some SoftBank executives have raised questions whether the WeWork deal is overvalued, saying a company in the business of office space is far afield from tech-focused investments, the newspaper reported.

SoftBank also recently held discussions with Uber Technologies Inc, though it isn't clear if an investment is in the pipeline, the WSJ reported.

(Reporting by Sangameswaran S and Bhanu Pratap in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)